The Venture Codex

Led · Seed · Mar 2020

PredaSAR is building and operating a commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite constellation that provides high-resolution imagery irrespective of time of day or weather. The company is an emerging nanosatellite data provider focused on SAR 2-D imaging and 3-D reconstructions. PredaSAR intends to use recent funding to expand operations and to manufacture and launch two SAR satellites through a strategic partnership with Tyvak. Founded in 2019 by Marc Bell, the company is led by newly appointed CEO Roger W. Teague, a retired Air Force Major General with extensive space-systems experience. The firm emphasizes SAR’s advantages over traditional optical satellites for persistent, all-weather sensing. PredaSAR is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.

Led · Series A · Mar 2020

Bolt Mobility develops small and personal electric vehicles and IoT-enabled transportation devices, offering features such as MobilityOS, real-time scooter navigation, ergonomic design, and swappable batteries. The company emphasizes sustainability through product design and materials and aims to replace small fossil-fuel engines to reduce emissions, waste, and noise pollution. Bolt intends to deploy cutting-edge solid-state battery technology, energy‑efficient metal‑like plastics made from recycled waste, and coiless electric motors across its vehicle lines. Its IoT devices are designed to share data with urban planners to help cities become more connected, electric, and efficient. Bolt has a presence in more than 50 markets across the United States and advances access and equity through partnerships with municipalities, universities, and local ownership. The company is co‑founded by eight‑time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt and positions itself as a leader in transportation sustainability. Bolt Mobility provides personal e-scooters at strategic urban locations to enable point-to-point travel. Its technology and design-focused strategy aim to help cities alleviate traffic and parking congestion while transitioning infrastructure toward greener, more efficient models. The company emphasizes rider safety, convenience, affordability, and works with municipalities on partnership, inclusivity, and equity. Bolt currently holds permits to operate e-scooters in multiple cities across the U.S. and internationally. The company announced a Series A funding event that brought total investment to $30 million at a $100 million valuation, and it added automotive design veteran Ed Welburn as an advisor. Management says the funding and advisory support will help Bolt scale and advance its mission to deliver simple, sustainable transport solutions.

Led · Equity · Feb 2019

Eyrus provides a cloud-based jobsite intelligence platform that automates collection of workforce data and delivers daily reporting for project stakeholders. The platform aggregates attendance, timekeeping, safety and security data in real time to improve workforce visibility and site operations. Led by CEO and co-founder Alexandra McManus, Eyrus targets construction and oil and gas customers with tools for attendance and timekeeping accuracy and safety monitoring. The company plans to accelerate growth into new market segments and geographies and to introduce its platform while strengthening partnerships. It will focus investment on customer-focused product development, enhancing user experience, and hiring to fill key positions. Financially, Eyrus completed a $12M Series A to fund these initiatives. Eyrus provides a tech platform that gives access to workforce intelligence through on-site trade resource data and project analytics in real time. The company's real-time productivity tool creates actionable insights by automating data collection and delivering a continuous stream of field information to users. Eyrus reaches nationwide and provides workforce data for construction projects totaling over $15 billion. Founded in 2015 by CEO Alexandra McManus and COO Hussein Cholkamy and based in Washington, D.C., the company is focused on expanding its reach across the contech space. In December 2019 it raised $500K in bridge funding—bringing total funding to more than $3M—with participation from Rokk3r Fuel ExO. The company intends to use the capital to hire new staff across sales and marketing and to support other scaling measures.

Led · Series A · Sep 2018

Taxfyle offers an easy-to-use mobile platform that connects customers and CPA firms to a network of 3,700+ licensed accounting professionals across individual, small business, and enterprise verticals. Founded in Miami in 2015, the company transformed tax prep into a virtual, affordable service and saw thousands of new customers during the pandemic while hundreds of CPA firms relied on its workforce to address staffing shortages. Taxfyle has consistently grown more than 200% year over year and twice landed on the Inc. 5000 list for fastest-growing companies. The company has raised more than $35M since launch and just closed an oversubscribed $20M Series B to support expansion of firm outsourcing across U.S. markets. Funding will be used to add key personnel, further develop the Taxfyle Platform, and recruit to double the number of tax professionals. New APIs are planned to let partners — including banks, online payment processors, HR providers, and wealth management companies — add tax prep services to their offerings to create new revenue streams and reduce client churn. Taxfyle, launched in 2015 and based in Coral Gables, Florida, operates an on-demand workforce platform that matches customers to licensed CPAs and IRS enrolled agents. In 2018 it developed Worklayer, a B2B enterprise product that catalogs services and routes work to an on-demand workforce for large professional services firms. The company serves more than 40,000 taxpayers and 1,300 licensed professionals and operates in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Taxfyle intends to use new funding to expand its platform, ramp distribution of Worklayer (starting with 45,000 U.S. CPA firms), and hire additional marketing and sales staff. The platform allows CPA firms to scale workload without long-term hiring and training commitments. Taxfyle operates a mobile and web-based marketplace that connects consumers and small businesses directly with more than 700 Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and Enrolled Agents (EAs). Founded in August 2015 by CEO Richard Lavina and based in Miami, the company offers apps on iOS, Android and the web. In early 2017 Taxfyle launched a new version of its app adding a web platform and mobile capabilities such as App Pay, Touch ID and business return filings. In January the company partnered with TaxAct to service more complex filers through direct access to CPAs and EAs. The company recently closed a $2M seed financing and intends to use the funds to continue scaling its marketplace. Availability across web and mobile platforms and the TaxAct partnership aim to broaden Taxfyle's ability to serve more complex and higher-value tax clients.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2018

HYP3R, founded in 2015 by CEO Carlos Garcia and based in San Francisco, CA, provides a location-based marketing platform that geofences hotels, casinos, cruise ships, airports, fitness clubs, stadiums and shopping destinations worldwide. The platform is used by companies in travel, retail, fitness and entertainment to acquire high-value customers, build loyalty through real-time engagement and surface emerging trends via detailed analysis. HYP3R raised $17M in Series A financing to support its growth. Backers included Structure Capital, Rokk3r Fuel, Thayer Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank and other strategic investors. The company plans to use the funds to expand its ability to build enterprise-level relationships and continue delivering marketing efficiency to partners. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article.